How long to get moisture out??? chiller heat exchanger ruptured ..

[hvacker]

The worst one I had I decided to use a little chemistry. This was a very large evap that got water logged when the spray humidifier nozzles bored holes in the coil. After isolating the the coil I ran a hose to the outside, blew nitro through the coil and then I poured a gallon of denatured alcohol into the coil.
As alcohol has a great affinity for water I was able to blow the alcohol through the coil and absorbing the remaining water. Another blast of nitro until I could no longer smell the alcohol. After that I followed normal procedures to dry it out.
Ten years later it was still hanging in there.
I wouldn't expose a compressor to alcohol but if the wet part of the system can be isolated it can save a huge amount of time. If isopropal alcohol is available it might be a better choice.

[steveoo]

R-22 or 410A

[Bob_Scaringe]

Alcohol is a cosolvent and will remove water but most alcohols are not 100% (200 proof) but are diluted with water, even the denatured alcohols. Much better off using a flushing product and Qwik System Flush in the orange can has been shown by university tests to work better that R-11. Check out the facts at the website

[steveoo]

Alcohol will turn to a acid and eat the insulation on motor windings.

[chillerout1]

so will water and refrigerant

[hvacker]

Alcohol will turn to a acid and eat the insulation on motor windings.

I thought I was clear, I didn't expose the compressor to alcohol. This event was in winter and the compressor never ran. I also disagree that alcohol turns to acid in these conditions. It was blown out and dried with nitro. Alcohol was only introduced to the evaporator and then only for about an hour.